Slight rise in North's jobless levels

Unemployment in the North edged up fractionally during the last three months, according to figures released by the British government today.

The seasonally-adjusted rate was up 0.1% at 4.9% – 38,000 – compared with the previous three-month period.

However it was down 0.1% when compared with the same three months last year.

The number claiming unemployment benefits was 28,900 – 3.4% – which remained constant over the month. It was down 200 over the last three months and down 1,800 on a year ago.

Commenting on the figures, British Enterprise Minister Angela Smith said: “It is good to see the continuing low levels of unemployment. This is the sixth month in a row where the unemployment rate has been below 5%.”

The North's unemployment rate is close to the UK average of 4.8% and lower than four other regions – London (7.2%), North East (6.4%), Scotland (5.7%) and Yorkshire and Humberside (5.0%).

It is also considerably lower than the average for the 25 nations in the EU, which was 8.9% in April.